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Photos: Perchten festival in Austria

Each year in November and January people in the western Austria regions dress-up in Perchten (also known in some regions as Krampus or Tuifl) costumes and parade through the streets to perform a 1500 year-old pagan ritual to disperse the ghosts of winter. Each handmade traditional costume, consisting of up to 14 separate sheep or goat skins, takes three dress makers one day to produce, and costs between 500 – 600 euros. Some 15 hours are needed for a woodcarver to sculpt each demon mask which is made from stone pine wood with goat horns attached. The mask costs an additional 600 euros.
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